Quick acting regulator of the vibrating type



Sept. 8, 1931. H. MEYER-BERG ET AL 198229232 QUICK ACTING REGULATOR OFTHE VIBRATING TYPE Filed May 24, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept; 8, 1931. H.MEYER-BERG ET AL 198229232 QUICK ACTING HEGULATQH OF THE VIBRATING TYPEFiled fla 2.4,, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 4.

the advantages of the mechanical slmn Patented Sept. 8, 1931 UNITED.s'mrss P'ATEN 'l @FF'ECEI HULDR-EICH MEYER-BERG, OF BADQ'LN, AND BJBERTKELLER, OF ENNETBADEN, SWITZERLAND, ASSIGNORS T AliTiEhlGESELll Cl-iilFTBRUYU'N, BOY/ ERI AND CIE., OF

BADEN, SWITZERLAND.

QUICK-ACTING REGULATUR,

Application filed May 24, 1928, Serial No. For-regulating train-lightinggenerators to keepthe voltage or the current constant, both regulatorsofthe-vibrating type and of the carbon compression type are used. Bothtypes of regulators have considerable disadvantages which closelycircumscribe their use in spite'ot their great mechanical simplicity;

The disadvantage with the trembler regulator is, that the tremblercontacts are subjectto rapid destruction, owing to their beingexcessively stressed. This is due to the factthat, when the contacts arebeing opened, there is too great a difference in voltage betweenthecontacts. This ditierence in voltage is due to the rigid resistanceconnected up parallel to the trembler contacts. Consequently, each timethe contacts are opened an arc is formed, the intensity of which dependsonthe strength of the excitation current and the drop in voltage.Although by using a resistance having-a number of steps the forming ofsparks by the contacts is diminished, it is still far too great when aconsiderable excitation current flows, so that in this case as well thelife of the vibrating contacts is very short. In the case of the carboncomnession type regulator, the disadvantages make themselves-felt inthis way, that the ohmic resistance of the carbon column is notconstant, but is subject to considerable varia tions in the course oftime according to the structure of the carbon. This interferes seri- Iously with the fine regulation, so that the carbon compression regulatorcan only be made use of in cases where no very accurate regulation isrequired.

The present invention has for its object to provide a quick-actingregulator in v ich of the vibrating regulator and of the carboncompression regulator are fully realized, while the electricaldisadvantages of the same'are avoided. According to the invention aregulable non-inductive resistance is connected up in parallel to thevibrating or tremble contact of a regulator, which resistance can beadjusted between a minimum and a-maximum value. As the regulableresistancea carbon compression regulator is pref- OF THE. VIBRATIITGTYPE 280,287, and in Germany June 1, 1927;

erably used, which by coacting with the vibrating contact allows of afine regulation in direct dependence on the excitation of the generator.

in the accompany'ng drawings Figs. 1 and :2 show diagrainnn lily thearrangement of a single regul tor and of a double regulator ccording tothe invention and Figs. 3 and 4 constructional example of the lattertion and plan view. in fig. 1 of the drawings a is the armature of thetrain-lrg 'ing dynamo and o the excitation winding. The regulator iscomposed the vibrating or tremble contacts 0 and of the carboncompression regulator (Z connected in parallel to the said contacts. Thevibrating contact proper, c, and the member exerting the pressure on theplates of the carbon compression regulator, which are arranged in layersto form a column, are mounted on a lever e comm-en to both, which ispivoted at and terms the armature of an electromagnet g. T heelectromagnet g is energized in dependence on the current or voltage ofthe dynamo a and is connected for instance to the terminals oi theexcitation winding Z). /t is an initially stressed spring whichregulates the pressure of the carbon plates of the regulz or and therebydetermines the resistance value the latter. The spring it has theturther function of keeping the vibrating contacts closed. The initialstressing of the spring h is so adjusted that in the position er rest orthe regulator with thevibrating contacts 0 closed, the pressure on thecarbon plates is at a manimmn, that is equal to zero. After the con tcts0 have been opened, the pr sure on the carbon plates of the regulator isreduced, the spring 51. being stressed, and the resistance value of theregulator is increased as the distance between the contacts increases,up to a maximum value. The reg ator operates in the following manner: vhen the vehicle lited with the train lighting dynamo is in the startingposition, the held circuit oi the dynamo being complete, current willflow from the excitation winding Z) over the pivot f of the lever e andthe lever itself, through the closed vibrating contacts 0 and parallelthereto over the carbon compression regulator d to the armature a of thedynamo. As the dynamo voltage increases the electromagnet 9 will becomeoperative, will attract its armature e and lift the vibrating contactproper c from its fixed counter-contact. At the moment of opening of thecontacts the maximum pressure of the spring 71. will still be maintainedon the plates of the carbon compression regulator, so that theresistance value or the latter will remain at its minimum value. In thisway the difference in voltage between the vibrating con tacts is keptlow and the formation of destructive sparks on the contacts opening isprevented. On the air gap between the vibrating contacts increasing withthe increase in voltage, the pressure on the carbon plates of theregulator will decrease, the spring It being at the same timeunstressed, and the resistance value of the regulator will increase inthe same proportion. On the dynamo voltage falling, the vibratingcontacts may approach one another again, the resistance value of thecarbon compression regulator will decrease and will reach its minimumvalue, when the vibrating contacts close.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the combination of two regulatorsaccording to Fig. 1 to form a double regulator. The armature 6 has theform of a two-armed lever and is so balanced that it can be mounted onpoints so as to avoid friction. The electromagnet g is U-shaped, so thatits poles lie on either side of the two-armed armature e. The tworegulators are arranged symmetrically with respect to the centre line ofthe armature and their vibrating contacts are connected in parallel, sothat the current supplied to the regulator is distributed to the twocontacts. The vibrating contacts of the two regulators may, however, beconnected in series. This double construction of a regulator, thecontacts of which are controlled synchronously, has the specialadvantage that, should one half of the regulator become damaged, thesecond half will still continue to function.

A constructional form of such a double regulator is shown by way ofexample in Figs. 3 and 4 in elevation and plan view respectively. Thesamereli'erence letters refer to the same parts as in Fig. 1. Theoperation of the regulator is the same as that described above.

According to the invention the spring 72, which regulates thecompression pressure of the carbon plates of the carbon compressionregulator is suitably placed in the interior of the carbon compressionregulator itself. For this purpose the carbon plates which are piled toform a column are provided with a bore and the helical spring h ismounted in the channel thus formed. One end of the spring is attached ina regulable manner to the casing 71 of the regulator, the other endbeing attached to the pressure applying memher is which rests on thecarbon discs. The channel formed by the bores in the plates at the sametime acts as an air passage for cooling the regulator. The compressionpressure for the carbon plates of the regulator instead of beingtransmitted directly through the armature as in Figs. 1 and 2, can betransmitted by way of an interposed pressure applying bar or spring orthrough a system of levers with mechanical advantage, as shown inFig. 1. In the example the compression pressure acting on the carbonplates 79 of the carbon compression regulator d, 03 is regulated in sucha way that the springs /L are attached to levers m, m which are pivotedto the regulator casing and are connected by the helical springs n,.n tothe ends of the two armed armature e.

The increase in the resistance value of the carbon compression regulatorproduced by the diminution of the compression pressure acting on theplates can be assisted by the weight of the plates themselves, theregulator being so mounted that the open end of the regulator casing isdirected vertically downwards.

WVhat we claim is:

l. A quick-acting regulator of the vibrating type for maintainingconstant the current or voltage of an electric generator including apair of vibrating contacts in a circuit including the field coils of thegenerator, a non-inductive resistance shunted across said contacts and arocking member coacting synchronously with the vibrating contacts, saidrocking member being arranged to vary the value of said non-inductiveresistance from a minimum to a maximum synchronously with the vibrationof the said contacts.

2. A quick-acting regulator of the vibrating type as claimed in claim 1wherein the said non-inductive resistance is in the form of acompressible pile of carbon plates.

3. A quick-acting regulator as claimed in claim 1 wherein thenon-inductive resistance is a compressible carbon plate resistance, themagnitude of which is varied by varying the pressure on its plates bymeans of the rocking member in such a manner that when the vibratingcontacts are closed the pressure is high and the resistance value lowwhilst after the contacts open the resistance value increases independence upon the decrease in pressure.

4. A quick-acting regulator as claimed in claim 1 wherein thenon-inductive resistance is a compressible carbon plate resistance, themagnitude of which is varied by var ing the pressure on its plates bymeans of t 1e rocking member in such a manner that when the vibratingcontacts are closed the pressure is high and the resistance value lowwhilst after the contacts open the resistance value increases independence upon the decrease in pressure, the increase in the resistancevalue produced by the reduction in the pressure on the plates beingassisted by the weight of the plates themselves.

5. A quick-acting regulator as claimed in claim 1 including an initiallystressed spring and wherein the non-inductive resistance is acompressible carbon plate resistance, the

magnitude of which is varied by varying the pressure on its plates bymeans of the rocking member in such a manner that when the vibratingcontacts are closed the pressure is high and the resistance value lowwhilst after the contacts open the resistance value increases independence upon the decrease in pressure, the pressure on the plates ofthe carbon compression resistance being produced by the said initiallystressed spring 2 6. A quick-acting regulator as claimed in claim 1including an initially stressed spring and wherein the non-inductiveresistance is a compressible carbon pile resistance, the magnitude ofwhich is varied by varying the pressure on its plates by means of therocking member in such a manner that when the vibrating contacts areclosed the pressure is high and the resistance value low whilst afterthe contacts open the resistance value increases in dependence upon thedecrease in pressure, the pressure on the plates of the carboncompression resistance being produced by the said initially stressedspring which is guided centrally through a passage formed in each plate.

7. A quick-acting regulator as claimed in claim 1 including an initiallystressed spring and wherein the non-inductive resistance is acompressible carbon pile resistance, the

magnitude of which is varied by varying the pressure on its plates bymeans of the rocking member in such a manner that when the vibratingcontacts are closed the pressure is high and the resistance value lowwhilst after the contacts open the resistance value increases independence upon the decrease in pressure, the pressure on the plates ofthe carbon pile resistance being produced by the said initially stressedspring which is guided v0 centrally through a passage formed in eachplate, the combined passage formed through the pile of plates forming aventilating duct for cooling the resistance.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specificationHULDR-EICH MEYER-BERG. ROBERT KELLER.

